Dematerialised securities maintain dominance

DEMATERIALISED securities registered on the Chengetedzai Securities Company (CDC) central securities depository (CSD) now account for 54,86% of the total market capitalisation for dematerialised shares on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.

Dematerialisation (Demat) is the switch from physical certificates to electronic bookkeeping.

A CSD trading update released by CDC for November 2023 shows that corporates and pension funds hold the most significant value on the CDC depository, accounting for 31,70% and 26,35% respectively.

“Dematerialised securities registered on the CDC accounted for 54,86% of the total market capitalisation for dematerialised shares on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, and their total value was ZWL$8 766 trillion as of November 30, 2023,” CDC said.

The average demat penetration ratio across all counters stood at 59,60% in the period under review. During the period, the ZSE equities market capitalisation gained by 21,30%, closing November 2023 at ZWL$15,255 trillion. The total value of trades settled through the CDC depository system in the same month was ZWL$53 385 billion.

A total of 174 new accounts were opened in the period, bringing the total accounts opened this year to 2 422.

As at November 30, 2023, the cumulative number of accounts opened on the CSD since inception stood at 46 407.

Local investors accounted for 95,13% of accounts opened as at November 30, 2023, while individuals continued to dominate the number of accounts opened, accounting for 52,29% of the total accounts on the CSD.

“The average dematerialisation penetration ratio (Demat Ratio) across all counters was at 59,60% as at 30 November 2023. The dematerialisation statistics for the top 25 counters are shown on the graph below."

The cumulative number of trades processed on CDC depository to date in 2023 closed at 49 924.